Court: B2trln bill unconstitutional

The Constitution Court on Wednesday ruled the government-proposed bill to empower the Finance Ministry to seek 2 trillion baht loans for infrastructure development projects is unconstitutional, reports said.

Published: 12/03/2014 at 02:05 PM

Writer: Online Reporters

The ruling was made following a request for the Constitution Court to decide if the bill contravened Sections 160 and 170 of the constitution.

The request was filed by Democrat Party MPs through the House Speaker immediately after the Senate passed the bill in its final reading.

The court unanimously agreed with a vote of 8-0 that the content of the bill violated provisions stated in the first paragraph of Section 169 of the charter. It also voted 6-2 that the bill's legislative procedures went against Section 170 of the constitution.

Constitution Court secretary Chaovana Traimat said the bill has been dropped as a result of the ruling.

Meanwhile, the Constitution Court today accepted for consideration the Office of the Ombudsman's request for it to rule on whether the Feb 2 election is invalid.

The court also accepted for consideration the Election Commission's request that it rule on whether a new royal decree is required to hold fresh elections in 28 southern constituencies where no candidates were able to register for the Feb 2 election.

If so, the EC wants the court to decide if the agency or the government has the authority to propose a draft royal decree.